This Kids' Series Captures the Horrors of War Better Than Most Adult Books

Image via Scholastic Published Nov 3, 2026, 12:14 AM EST Born with Autism (formerly classified as Asperger syndrome), Tyler B. Searle has been obsessed with storytelling since he was old enough to speak. He gravitated towards fairy tales, mythology, the fantasy genre, and animated movies and shows aimed at family audiences. When not writing, Tyler enjoys watching more cartoons and reading fantasy books in his home in Ontario, Canada. Sign in to your Collider account Scholastic has come a long way since its founding in 1920. Its content ranges from fun, educational adventures like The Magic School Bus to light horror stories like Goosebumps. Then you have more unique and out-there works, like Animorphs, which ran from 1996 to 2001. Written by Katherine Applegate and her husband Michael Grant with the aid of a team of ghostwriters, this was a science fiction series about alien parasites called the Yeerks invading Earth in the hopes of enslaving humans to use in their galactic war against the Andelites, an advanced race of space-centaurs. Earth's only hope comes in the form of five teenagers who use Andelite technology to transform into animals, and a young Andelite cadet who is the sole survivor of a deadly space battle. What set Animorphs apart from Scholastic's other series wasn't just its creative sci-fi setting, but the level of detail and maturity put into it — namely, its approach to war. The fact that the books were written for kids did not stop the husband-wife duo from writing about gory battles, genocide, paranoia, and propaganda, among other horrors of war. This honesty gave Animorphs a unique identity in the world of children's literature, and even thirty years after the first book was published, it has aged like fine wine for its nuanced handling of such heavy topics. Good and Evil Aren't so Clear-Cut in 'Animorphs' Image via Scholastic Most children's media try to keep their depictions of war simple. You'll generally have one side portrayed as the aggressor with aspirations of conquest, and another as the victim or underdog trying to fight against them. At first, Animorphs follows this trend. The six protagonists are underdogs forced to use their morphing powers to keep their identities safe from the Yeerks, a ruthless galactic empire that has already subjugated other species. The kids are forced to use guerrilla tactics to avoid open warfare until the Andelites arrive with reinforcements. However, the series is very quick to throw a wrench in this perception. The noble and heroic Andelites are soon revealed to be vain, arrogant, and paranoid, as it was one of their scientists who gave the Yeerks the technology to take to space. We even see them use propaganda to cover their tracks. In Book 8, The Alien, the Andelites are furious when they learn their morphing technology is known by the humans and force a young cadet to take the fall for the leak of information. It's just the first of many instances where Applegate and Grant delve into how governments try to control the narrative in wars, showing that often, your allies in a war are only so because they hate your enemy as much as you. Likewise, the Yeerks are full of nuances. Yes, they are parasites who take away the autonomy of their hosts, but to not do so is to live a blind, deaf life eternally swimming in the pool of your birth, all while possessing a mind as complex as any human's. Their expansionist war occurred partially because they were overwhelmed by this impossible reality they had been exposed to, and partially because the Andelites were trying to contain them on their home world. Several Yeerk characters are complex individuals, with wants, goals, aspirations, and even loved ones. Many of them even sympathize with the plight of their hosts and would gladly try to find a way to peacefully coexist, but they are bullied into silence by the military and the ruling Council of Thirteen. More than an evil alien species out to conquer humanity, the Yeerks are a young empire hated by an established power and internally divided, hampered by their biology and inexperience. Perhaps the best example of this complexity can be seen within the protagonists themselves. While everything they do is to save humanity from enslavement, they often have to step into morally dubious territory. One example happens early in the series in Book 7, The Stranger, when the Animorphs destroyed a device that allowed Yeerks to feed when outside their hosts every three days. While a major victory that slowed down the Yeerks' plans, it also caused hundreds of Yeerks to die an agonizing death by starvation, to say nothing of all the human hosts who were also quietly killed off. The protagonists would also use torture as needed and had a horrible track record when it came to recruiting members. This makes sense in a lot of ways; what teenager is going to fight a secret war for years and not go a little crazy? It all shows the reader that wars are almost never simple good vs. evil, and that everyone has the chance to be a hero or a villain. COLLIDERInteractive Long-range scan active Movies/Science Fiction/Survival Assessment Collider Survival Assessment Which Sci-Fi WorldWould You Survive? 8 questions · 5 worlds · one honest verdict Five of the great screen futures, and not one of them is built for comfort. Answer eight questions about instinct, loyalty and the line you would cross, and the scan will tell you which one you would still be standing in. Worlds in range ▦︎The Matrix ◈︎Mad Max ◑︎Blade Runner ▲︎Dune ✦︎Star Wars Begin the scan Question 01 of 08INSTINCT The world as you know it ends overnight. What is your first move? No wrong answer. There is a wrong hesitation.AFind out what is really going on behind all of it BGrab a vehicle and as much fuel as you can carry CKeep your head down and show up to work anyway DLearn the rules of whoever is in charge now EFind other people and start organizing ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 02 of 08RESOURCE You can stockpile exactly one thing. What is it? Choose carefully. You are not getting a second run.AInformation nobody else has BFuel CClean money and cleaner documents DWater EA ship that can get you off-world ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 03 of 08THREAT Which kind of enemy scares you the most? Be honest about what keeps you up.AOne that can be anywhere, wearing anyone's face BA convoy of people who want what you are carrying CSomeone who looks exactly like you DA rival family that has been planning your downfall for generations EAn empire with unlimited resources and no patience ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 04 of 08AUTHORITY How do you handle the people in charge? Every world has them. Even the ones that pretend otherwise.AAssume they are lying and work around them BNobody is in charge where I am CFollow the orders, file the report, stay invisible DStudy them, get close to them, outlast them EJoin whoever is fighting them ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 05 of 08ENVIRONMENT Pick the place you would rather wake up in: You will be there a while.AA grey city that feels slightly too perfect BAn endless desert highway CA rainy neon street at three in the morning DA dune sea with a fortress on the horizon EA crowded spaceport full of strangers ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 06 of 08ALLIANCE Who do you want standing next to you? Pick one. You only get one.AA guide who knows far more than they are telling you BOne person you trust and nobody else CNobody. You work alone DA loyal circle you grew up with EA crew of misfits who argue the whole way ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 07 of 08MORALITY Which line would you cross to survive? Everybody crosses one.ALying to the people closest to you BTaking what you need by force CLooking the other way DPlaying a long game that costs other people dearly EBlowing something very expensive up ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 08 of 08PURPOSE What are you really fighting for? Last question. Make it count.AThe truth, whatever it turns out to be BTomorrow. Just tomorrow CSomething that finally feels like a real life DYour family's name EEveryone who cannot fight for themselves ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Run the scan Scan completeYou would survive ▦︎ The Matrix The Resistance, Zion You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. You would survive The Matrix because you were never fully sold on the version of reality you were handed. You notice the seams. You ask the second question. In a world built to keep people comfortable and incurious, that instinct is the whole fight, and it is why Morpheus would have found you long before you found him. From the Collider file The Wachowskis' 1999 film won four Academy Awards, including Visual Effects and Film Editing. Bullet time was shot with a rig of roughly 120 still cameras firing in sequence around the actors. Keanu Reeves trained in martial arts for about four months before a frame was shot, recovering from neck surgery the whole time. It opened the same year as Fight Club and eXistenZ, in a run of films about not trusting the world in front of you. Red pill energy Pattern spotter Built to question ◈︎ Mad Max The Wasteland Oh, what a day. What a lovely day. You would survive the Wasteland because you do not waste energy mourning the world that ended. You move, you improvise, and you are very good with whatever is bolted to the thing in front of you. Furiosa would let you drive. That is not a compliment anybody earns easily. From the Collider file Mad Max: Fury Road won six Academy Awards in 2016, more than any other film that year. George Miller storyboarded the entire film as roughly 3,500 panels before there was a script. The chase was shot almost entirely practical in the Namib Desert, with real vehicles and real stunt performers. Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth carried the prequel, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, in 2024. Keeps moving Improviser Good with engines ◑︎ Blade Runner Los Angeles, 2049 All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. You would survive 2049 because you know how to be small in a very loud city. You keep your head down, you do the job, and you hold onto one private thing that belongs only to you. That quiet stubbornness is exactly what both Deckard and K run on, and it is what keeps either of them going when the case stops making sense. From the Collider file Blade Runner 2049 won Roger Deakins his first Oscar for cinematography, on his fourteenth nomination. The film also took Best Visual Effects, 35 years after Ridley Scott's 1982 original. Villeneuve shot it on large-format film and kept the fog and rain practical on set wherever he could. Three short films by Luke Scott and Shinichiro Watanabe bridge the 30-year gap between the two movies. Keeps her head down Private Noir soul ▲︎ Dune Arrakis Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. You would survive Arrakis because you think in decades while everyone around you thinks in weeks. You read the room, you learn the customs, you wait. The desert does not reward speed. It rewards people who understand that patience is a weapon, which is the one lesson the Fremen never had to be taught. From the Collider file Denis Villeneuve's Dune won six Academy Awards in 2022, including Cinematography and Original Score. Hans Zimmer turned down Christopher Nolan's Tenet so he could score Dune instead. Dune: Part Two arrived in 2024 and brought in Austin Butler, Florence Pugh and Christopher Walken. David Lynch's 1984 version and Alejandro Jodorowsky's unmade one are both their own legends by now. Plays the long game Reads the room Patient ✦︎ Star Wars A Galaxy Far, Far Away Rebellions are built on hope. You would survive the galaxy because you never try to survive it alone. You collect people. You end up in the middle of other folks' problems and you stay anyway. Every version of this story, from the Falcon's crew to the Ghost's, runs on somebody exactly like that holding the group together. From the Collider file The 1977 original won six Academy Awards plus a special achievement award for sound effects. John Williams' score was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra and became the best-selling symphonic film soundtrack ever. Andor took the galaxy somewhere colder and earned Emmy nominations for drama series in both seasons. The saga now runs across eleven feature films and a growing shelf of series on Disney+. Collects people Shows up Hope merchant Compatibility readout · top three 1 2 3 ↻ Retake the quiz Copied to your clipboard Scan filed byCOLLIDERCollider.com · The Sci-Fi Desk 'Animorphs' Deals With the Traumas of War Image via Scholastic Applegate and Grant vividly detail the atrocities of the conflict. The battles between the Animorphs and Yeerk controllers leave very little to the imagination when it comes to body horror. The Yeerks might have access to advanced technologies and strong alien hosts, but a blow from the paw of an adult grizzly bear or the bite force of a Siberian tiger is enough to cause major damage. These clashes are bloody and hectic, with plenty of severed limbs, torn-out eyes, broken bones, and worse. The morphing technology protects their bodies, but the psychological effect weighs heavily on the kids. Many times, the kids are reduced to tears when they change back to human form due to close calls with death. They can also get stuck in animal form if they don't change back within two hours. Some, like the athletic fashionista Rachel, end up embracing the violence and become hardened killers. Others, like the animal-loving Cassie, are repulsed by it, leading them to make drastic choices in the name of finding a resolution to the conflict. The longer the conflict goes on, the greater the mental strain becomes, leading to tragic consequences for the characters and their loved ones. In Book 1, The Invasion, de facto leader Jake learns that his older brother, Tom, is a controller, and he is unable to rescue him. Thus, he is forced to be on his guard constantly. His best friend, Marco, later learns that his mother, who was presumed to have died in a boating accident, is actually Visser One, the highest-ranked member of the Yeerk military. And while the other Animorphs don't have controller family members, it highlights how terrifying the Yeerks are: they can literally be anyone, and you won't know until it's too late. This reinforces a deep sense of isolation and paranoia. When enemies could be anywhere, how do you go about making allies? In the end, all these qualities make Animorphs such a mature and nuanced series. Sure, it still has plenty of silly adventures and the infamous covers are decidedly goofy, but at its core, the books introduced kids to war by highlighting the human cost, not just in the lives lost, but in how the psychology of those living through such horrors is slowly eroded. Here, good people are forced to do terrible things in order to survive, and atrocities can come from anywhere and anyone. In doing so, Animorphs created one of the best children's sci-fi series that is still remembered and celebrated to this day. Animorphs Release Date 1998 - 2000-00-00 Network YTV, Global TV, Nickelodeon Cast Shawn Ashmore, Brooke Nevin, Nadia-Leigh Nascimento, Boris Cabrera, Christopher Ralph, Paulo Costanzo, Eugene Lipinski, Joshua Peace, Noah Dalton Danby, Panou, Patrick Gallagher, Tom Barnett, Yani Gellman, Frank Pellegrino, Melanie Nicholls-King, Cass Van Wyck, Terra Vnesa, Richard McMillan, Jonathan Whittaker, Tom Butler, Neo Edmund, Cameron Graham, Fraser McGregor, Allegra Fulton, Dan Petronijevic, Dominic Cuzzocrea, Aaron Ashmore Seasons 2